9. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated a trade route linking the south-western Gwadar port to Kashgar city in China as part of $46 billion project to jumpstart economic growth in the South Asian country.

10. India is not inclined to automatically grant the coveted ‘Market Economy Status’ (MES) to China under World Trade Organization (WTO) norms in December 2016.

The main reason India is reluctant to grant MES to China is that it will severely curb India’s ability to impose anti-dumping duties on “unfairly priced” Chinese imports.

11. The International Conference on Brucellosis 2016 and the 69th meeting of the International Society on Brucellosis inaugurated in New Delhi.

The three-day conference has been organized by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in collaboration with Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR).

Sports:

1. Aditi Ashok capped a brilliant show to clinch the Indian Open Golf title.

By this, she became the first woman from the country to claim a European Tour event.

2. Australia is going to host the 2018 Invictus Games for wounded military personnel.

More than 500 serving and former personnel from 17 nations will compete in the multi-sports competition in Sydney.

3. Lewis Hamilton has won Brazilian Grand Prix.

It was the ninth win for Hamilton this season.

Nico Rosberg finished second in the race.

4. International Master Padmini Rout has won the 2016 National Women Premier Chess Championship.

She has scored a hat-trick in the National Women Premier Chess Championship.

Earlier she had won the championship in 2014 and 2015.

5. Indian golfer S.S.P Chawrasia clinched the $1 million Resorts World Manila Masters in the Philippines.

It was his first ever Asian Tour title outside India.

He beat Malaysian Nicolas Fung and American Sam Chen on the final day of the tournament.

6. Debbie Hockley has been elected as president of New Zealand Cricket.

She is the first woman to hold that role in the 122-year history of the sport’s national governing body.

Economics & Banking GK:

1. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a three-year $12 billion loan program for Egypt.

The loan will help in boosting Egypt’s foreign currency inflows.

2. TAFE, the world’s third largest tractor maker, in collaboration with the Rajasthan government, is setting up a Centre of Excellence “JFarm Rajasthan” and a Custom Hiring Centre in six zones in Rajasthan at a total outlay of Rs.970 crore.

3. RBI formed a Special Task Force to speed up the process of recalibration of automated teller machines (ATM) to dispense the new denomination notes.

The Special Task Force will be headed by S Mundra, Deputy Governor, RBI.

Representatives from the Union Finance and Home Ministries, RBI, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will be its members.

4. Federal Bank, India’s major commercial bank in the private sector received Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s permission to open its branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre.

It is the first international branch of the bank.

5. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) hiked the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat and pulses to boost their output and check prices.

The MSP of wheat was hiked by 100 rupees per quintal for the 2016-17 rabi crop.

Bills – New & Amendments:

1. The Union Cabinet approved constitution of ‘special committee for inter-linking of rivers’ in compliance with a 2012 Supreme Court order.

The constitution of the committee will help in monitoring precious projects to be carried out under its National Perspective Plan, 1980.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU):

1. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Bhutan’s Economic Affairs Minister Tengye Lyonpo Lekey Dorji signed an agreement on trade and commerce in New Delhi.

The first agreement was signed in 1972.

2. Over 20 countries, including India, Brazil and France signed the framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

The framework agreement of ISA was opened for signatures on the sidelines of CoP22 to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Marrakech, in Morocco.

3. The Union Government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) inked a $500-million loan agreement to build a 9.8 km long road bridge across the Ganga River in Bihar.

It will be country’s longest river bridge and shall provide better connectivity between North and South Bihar and also Patna and its surrounding areas.

4. India and Israel inked two agreements in the field of water resources management and agriculture.

5. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed three Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with the Competent Authority of United Kingdom (UK) to reduce tax litigation. Benefits of the MoU are:

Boost to economy and ease of doing business.

Provide an alternative path to the investors with rollback provision to reduce litigation.

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